DURHAM, N.C. -- Durham's 911 communications center is losing employees quicker than you can dial 911, and the center recently conducted an audit to find out why.
If you've ever needed it, you know how valuable 911 emergency service and its employees can be.
"911 is critical. It's the first link," said Maj. Charles Tiffin, director of Durham's Emergency Communications Center. "It is the absolute first link between determining if a citizen's calling, reporting an emergency or a need to getting the fire truck, police officer or EMS person on the scene."
But according to a recent audit, telecommunicators at the Durham Emergency Communications Center have poor morale caused by tense working conditions, insufficient staffing and shifts that stretched as long as 12 hours with quick turnaround times because of understaffing.
"They're on the front lines dealing with these issues as they come in," Tiffin said. "Staffing is always an issue inherent with that job itself -- the stress that comes with those emergency calls. So retention of employees is sometimes a challenge."
The audit showed that while overall call volume was up in Durham, minimum staffing was down almost 50 percent of the time from February to March 2004. Training, lasting as long as nine months, was an issue along with pay, which starts at roughly $27,000 a year for an emergency telecommunicator.
"But we've got some excellent measures in place now to address the hiring, training and retention of the employees and telecommunicators," Tiffin said.
Tiffin said the center is setting specific goals for hiring, training and retaining employees. He said Durham County residents can rely on their 911 emergency system if the need arises.
"911 is in place. It is ready to respond to emergency calls," Tiffin said. "There have been no emergency lapses. It's a very, very professional organization."
A new calling system will debut in Durham on June 21.
For nonemergency phone calls, you should call 560-1200. Tiffin said about 200,000 calls the 911 center receives are not for emergencies.
